Mr Wayne Govender

It would be helpful if you could to briefly explain what the issues/problems you're experiencing, it would be helpful to look into the Forum finding or suggesting solutions or current practice/procedures we have in place.

BioRad service engineers do not wear running shoes either...they stay as long as needs be to ensure that the machine is running smoothly without glitches. Can't say that for others who seem to have boarded the first flight on holiday before a batch of samples have completed the running.

Having had the opportunity to have worked with all 3 of the aforementioned machines, I'd say beyond any doubt that Biorad is light years ahead of Ortho. You get definitive results with Biorad, not the untold and innumerable false positives using Ortho reagents and products. I don't remember having any major downtime issues with Biorad apart from the expected wear and tear of a robust machine running 24/7 - 365. The turnaround time using Biorad was much better. Maintenance schedule is a breeze.

It's standard practice in UK that on first presentation a full group and antibody screen is done. Should blood or products be required it's mandatory that a second sample is taken for the forward group only and antibody screen. NHS patients aren't charged for this but there's a surcharge for privately insured patients.